05.09.14

Sacramento “have been pushing the idea of mixing technology, basketball and their fan base”, declares USA Today’s Nina Mandell, though there’s a world of difference between asking Kings fans to volunteer to be DeMarcus Cousins’ punching bag and hiring one as the franchise’s new stats maven. Who knows, maybe they’ll strike lightning in a bottle and find the next Mike Gimbel John Hollinger?

The Kings opened a challenge Friday, inviting the general public to submit methodology for evaluating the long-term potential of NBA draft prospects. The plans will be evaluated by the Kings’ front office, and winners may be invited to sit in the NBA draft room with general manager Pete D’Alessandro and the rest of the Kings’ decision-makers during the time leading up to the draft.

D’Alessandro introduced the idea during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session, where he fielded questions about everything from the Kings’ draft board (which of course he couldn’t answer) to his thoughts on college players who put on an incredible NCAA tournament performance (he looks at their entire body of work.)

The best questions, he said, were the ones that he couldn’t answer whether because they revealed too much about the Kings’ draft strategy or were too complex for a quick Reddit AMA answer — which is a hopeful sign for the competition.

“A guy asked me a cap question that for a couple of minutes stumped me — and my roots are in that — and I read it and said ‘that’s a really good question.’ And I may go back and have him message me on it.”